November 20, 2023 • 41 mins
A mentally disabled young man is taken advantage of by his landlord, who keeps him as a virtual prisoner until the young man's sister discovers what's going on and tries to put a stop to it.
Allegedly is a production of Voyage Media. The series is produced by Nat Mundel, Robert Mitas, and Dan Benamor. This episode, "Landing Lightning", was produced, directed and written by Jason Cheyney, based on upcoming novel by Cheryl Dean, we will update the show notes with a link once it is available. Executive produced by Cheryl Dean. Starring Annie Abrams as Cheryl, and Ben Van Diepen as Jake. Edited, sound designed and mixed by Joel Lipman. Original music by Derlis Gonzalez.
If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you're listening, and subscribe now for future episodes.
Allegedly is a production of Voyage Media. The series is produced by Nat Mundel, Robert Mitas, and Dan Benamor. This episode, "Landing Lightning", was produced, directed and written by Jason Cheyney, based on upcoming novel by Cheryl Dean, we will update the show notes with a link once it is available. Executive produced by Cheryl Dean. Starring Annie Abrams as Cheryl, and Ben Van Diepen as Jake. Edited, sound designed and mixed by Joel Lipman. Original music by Derlis Gonzalez.
If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you're listening, and subscribe now for future episodes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
What if someone was holding someone youlove hostage and there was nothing you could
do about it. In this story, a loving sister attempts to rescue her
brother from a shocking ordeal. Herbrother suffers from traumatic brain injury and he's
easily taken advantage of his injury ledto a nightmarish situation, and his sister
is the only person willing to help. This is Landing Lightning. My name
(00:29):
is Cheryl and I was born inthe winter of nineteen fifty four in Missouri.
I was a healthy, normal childto everyone except for my mother.
The reason my mother felt I wasabnormal had to do with the unreliable pregnancy
test during those days. Back then, doctors used rabbits, frogs, or
(00:50):
mice to determine pregnancy, but forthe most part, they used rabbits.
The pregnancy test involved taking the womandurin an injecting it into a rabbit.
If the pregnancy hormone was present,the rabbit's ovaries exhibited a dramatic change,
and the woman was told the rabbitdied. This meant that someone was pregnant.
(01:15):
In my mother's case, the rabbitnever died even after multiple tests.
The doctor thought I might be atumor until my mother finally felt me kicking.
She was superstitious and thought there mustbe something wrong with me because of
the negative pregnancy test. My motherabused me both physically and mentally during my
(01:38):
childhood. Just to describe a coupleof examples, she once shoved me violently
backwards down the basement steps of ourhome, and on another occasion, she
hit me in the eye with abelt buckle, sending me to the emergency
room. She also made up storiesand punished me for things I never did.
(02:00):
My brother, Jake, was threeyears younger than me, but he
endured a different type of abuse.While my mother would physically and emotionally abuse
me, she would simply completely neglectmy younger brother altogether. She never cared
for or discipline Jake whatsoever. Asa result, I became like a mother
(02:23):
to Jake. I took care ofhim and kept him out of trouble while
we were growing up. When Jakewas twenty nine years old, he had
an unfortunate experience that would change hislife forever. He attempted to help someone
who was being beat up and robbed. He intervened, and in the process
(02:44):
he was severely beaten with a tireiron, kidnapped, and nearly killed.
This resulted in Jake's traumatic brain injuryTBI, causing him to be disabled and
he was never the same again.Fast forward to twenty eleven. I'm living
in California with my father and Jakeis living in Missouri. My father had
(03:07):
been acting strange at the time afterhe started taking antidepressants and psychotropic drugs.
Then one morning I received a shockof my life. My father sadly committed
suicide. I decided to have myfather's memorial in Missouri near Jake, as
(03:28):
it would be difficult for him totravel. I hadn't seen Jake in a
couple of years, but my motherinformed me that he was doing well and
was being taken care of by hislandlord, Richard. I flew into Missouri
and drove to pick up Jake aday before the memorial. I met with
Richard in front of Jake's apartment andhe took me inside. I was shocked
(03:53):
at what I saw. Jake wasliving down in a cold basement with a
window that had iron bars. Hewas emaciated and looked scared to death.
His so called apartment looked like aprison cell. I stood there, astonished.
(04:15):
What the hell happened to him?I thought. I gathered Jake and
his coat and we left the building. We entered my rental car. I'm
sorry to have to tell you this, but Dad died. What what do
(04:35):
you mean Dad died? It justhappened a few days ago. Dad's dead.
I can't believe it, Cheryl.Dad can't be gone. Yes,
I can't believe it either, Jake. I am so sorry. Oh my
god, he can't be gone.How did he die? I couldn't bring
(04:56):
myself to tell him the truth yetabout Dad's suicide. He had been sick
and on medicine and he died.Poor Dad, I know. I drove
us to a restaurant to get Jakesome much needed food. I asked the
waitress for rolls as soon as wesat down, and Jake started to devour
(05:19):
them. Jake, why are youso skinny? Are you sick? No?
He's starving me. Who's starving you? Richard your landlord? For the
last three days, he only gaveme a cheese sandwich with no water.
He just gives me a ton ofvitamins. They make my stomach hert with
(05:42):
no food. He's a crook.He keeps me locked in the basement,
like I'm in prison. I'd bebetter off in prison. At least there
i'd have someone to talk to.He keeps you locked in the basement.
Yes, he never lets me leave, and he gets freezing down there.
I have a heater, but itdoesn't help much. He can't do that.
(06:05):
He's just a landlord. Does Momknow about this? I don't know.
I write her letters, but shenever comes to see me. I
beg her to come and see me. She never does. Her apartment isn't
even that far away from here.Can you try calling her? There's no
phone to call anyone. The phoneis upstairs in Richard's house. He can't
(06:28):
force you to stay inside. That'skidnapping. Can you have him arrested?
I don't know. I can try. How long has this been going on?
Almost seven years? Now? What? No way? Hearing this was
too much for me. I hadto excuse myself to go to the ladies
(06:50):
room so I could cry. Iwas still processing my father's suicide. I
(07:14):
wished he was still around to helpme deal with Jake's terrible ordeal. I
later learned about how Jake had becomestuck in this situation with Richard. As
a result of Jake's brain injury,it was always difficult for him to take
care of himself. He was alsovulnerable to other people exploiting him. Before
(07:34):
Jake met Richard, he would walkthe streets and pick up trash to throw
it away. One afternoon, asJake picked up trash in front of a
home, a man exited to askwhat he was doing. The man,
who was Richard, asked if Jakewas homeless. Jake explained that he had
a place, but the city condemnedit, so he was just squatting there.
(07:58):
Richard asked Jake if he was ondisability and receive money from SSI Supplemental
Security Income. Jake confirmed that hedid. Richard asked Jake if he wanted
to live in the basement of hishome. Richard told Jake that he would
fix it up for him if hepaid rent money from his disability check.
(08:18):
Jake naively agreed. The Supplemental SecurityIncome Program, or SSI, provides monthly
payments to adults and children with thedisability who have income and resources below specific
financial limits. Jake was receiving thisincome each month, along with food stamps.
Jake began to live in Richard's basement. His only furniture was an old
(08:39):
bed, a small dresser, anda tiny space heater. A few weeks
after Jake moved in, Richard toldhim that he wanted to become his representative
payee for his Social Security check.Richard wanted to completely control Jake's money.
Richard took Jake to the Social Securityoffice to make the request. The office
(09:01):
denied the request because Jake could handlehis check he always had. Shortly after,
Jake was outside of a fast foodrestaurant. He saw a man who
rightly hung out there. Jake askedthe man for a ride downtown to cash
his social Security check. The managreed. Jake cashed his check downtown and
returned to the man's car. Theman suddenly pulled out a gun, pointed
(09:26):
at Jake and ordered him to turnover his money. Jake complied. Jake
then walked miles back to Richard's homein the freezing weather. He explained to
Richard that he was robbed of hisrent money, but he knew the thief
as a regular at the White Castle. Richard was infuriated. He immediately drove
(09:50):
Jake to the Social Security office.And again applied to be his representative Paye.
This time Richard had the robbery asan excuse. The office accepted the
request, and now Richard received Jake'sSSI checks in food stamps, controlling Jake's
food. After Dad's memorial the followingday, I called my mother at her
(10:16):
apartment in her retirement community. Itold her about Jake's terrible condition and captivity.
This turned out to be a hugemistake. She refused to believe me,
and she sided with Richard. Iargued with her and we went back
and forth until she tried to changethe subject, but I wouldn't let up.
(10:39):
I explained that she never actually visitedJake in the seven years he had
been in the basement. Did shewant him to die down there. She
refused to listen or criticize Richard andyelled at me to stay out of it
before she hung up on me.I called her back and told her that
I was retrend in California, butI would be moving back to Missouri to
(11:03):
help Jake. She told me,yeah, there's a reason your dad is
dead. There's a reason he committedsuicide under your care. That really hurt
me, but I just kept reiteratingJake's dire condition. Dad was already gone.
I wasn't about to lose my brothertoo. She once again ordered me
(11:26):
stay out of it before hanging upagain. Even though my mother never visited
Jake to see his living situation orhis condition, she still served as his
legal guardian. She was in controlof him. I had no choice but
to bring Jake back to Richard whileI figure out how I'm going to rescue
(11:48):
him. I feared leaving Jake behind, but I felt it would be okay
until I returned for him. WhenI brought Jake back to Richard, I
asked Richard to ensure Jake got morefood. Richard stated that Jake got plenty
to eat. I knew that wasa lie. I told Richard that Jake
needed food and not just vitamins.Before I traveled back to California, I
(12:13):
said goodbye to Jake in his basementprison cell. Jake, I have to
leave, but I promise I'll comeback to take care of you. When
are you coming back, don't worry, it won't be long. I just
had to get things settled in Californiafirst. I can't stand living here.
Cheryl, Please don't forget about me. Don't worry, We'll figure out how
(12:39):
to get you out of here.Just don't say anything to Richard about me.
Returning, I gave Jake a hugand we both started to tear up.
I traveled back to California. Ipacked up everything over a few weeks
and quickly sold whatever I could finda buyer for. I found an apartment
online in Missouri, not far fromJake. Then I flew back to Missouri
(13:03):
to rescue my brother. I contactedRichard and set up days and times that
I would pick up Jake to takehim out and eat and enjoy the outside
world. Richard would never allow meto pick up Jake without an appointment.
(13:24):
I started to confront Richard about histerrible treatment of Jake, which Richard as
always denied. I told Richard thathe couldn't legally lock up Jake because that
was false imprisonment of a disabled person. Richard said that he locked up Jake
so he wouldn't run off and getdrunk. But I told Richard that was
none of his business, as hewas neither a guardian nor a caregiver.
(13:48):
Although Richard was his paye, hewas just a landlord. I also confronted
Richard again about not feeding Jake,but he explained that he gave him vitamins.
I told Richard again that Jake needsfood and he doesn't need vitamins.
It was clear that Richard was onlyinterested in the SSI checks and food stamps
(14:11):
he was getting from Jake. Aftera few weeks, I had had enough.
It was time. I called Richardand threatened to notify authorities if he
didn't allow me to move Jake outof the basement. Richard, fearing the
police, agreed to let me moveout Jake, but he reached out to
(14:33):
my mother first. My mother orderedRichard to keep Jake away from me and
to no longer let him go anywherewith me. She told Richard I was
a troublemaker. When I arrived tomove Jake out, Richard barged out of
the house. He was in arage, yelling get out of here.
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You're not getting your brother. You'renot getting him, Get off of my
my property. I told him Iwas going to call the police, but
he screamed, go ahead, yourbrother's not even here. I looked into
the small window of Jake's basement roomand it was empty. Then Richard threatened
if you ever come back on myproperty, I'll shoot you. I was
(15:20):
so frightened that I jumped in mycar and drove away. I immediately called
the police, and now I waseven more worried about my brother. Where
was he. I told the policethat my brother had been locked in the
basement for the past seven years andthat he's disabled. They ask if Jake
is currently in the basement so theycould prove he was being locked inside,
(15:41):
but I said no, Jake wasn'tthere at the moment. Richard had conspired
with my mother to make sure Jakewasn't home when I arrived to rescue him.
This didn't surprise me. The policeinformed me that if Jake wasn't home
to prove that he was being lockedin, there was nothing they could do.
(16:03):
The police mentioned that I should contactfamily services and make a report so
a formal investigation could be made.Family support services are community based services that
assistant support parents in their role ascaregivers. Family support programs may address the
general population or target particular groups suchas ethnic and cultural minorities, adolyst and
(16:26):
parents, kinship caregivers, or familiesfacing health, mental health or substance use.
Issues. I called Family Services andfiled a complaint explaining the entire story.
Family Services then reached out to Jake'slegal guardian, my mother, to
confirm the complaint. My mother praisedRichard and said he took such great care
(16:51):
of Jake when no one else would. Family Services then contacted Richard and he
told them that Jake had a keyto leave when whatever he wanted. This
wasn't true, but Family Services nevermade a visit to find out that Richard
was lying. My mother and Richardcolluded to make sure Family Services would never
(17:14):
get involved. My mother's cold heartnever ceased to amaze me. She used
her influence to continue to make Jake'slife a living hell with no help from
Family Services. I decided I wouldpersonally rescue Jake. It was dangerous,
but I needed to find out whenJake was locked up at home so I
(17:37):
could prove it to the police.I would have to wait for the perfect
time when Richard wasn't home while Jakewas locked in the basement. I didn't
want to get shot if Richard sawme on his property, I would drive
by the house to investigate, andone afternoon I noticed that Richard's suv wasn't
(17:59):
parked in the drive way. Iparked my car on the side of the
house and quickly exited. I ranto the back window of the basement,
which was covered in iron bars.The window was cracked open slightly, and
I noticed Jake lying on the bed. He seemed out of it. He
was drooling and heavily medicated, staringat the ceiling. Jake. He was
(18:27):
too medicated to respond, Jeeke,Jake. Jake slowly turned his head toward
the window. Jake, it's Cheryl. Cheryl, yes, Jake, I
need to know if Richard is home. Jake slowly sat up on his bed.
(18:51):
He slowly walked toward the window.Are you going to get me out
of here? I'm going to tryis Richard? Let me check. Jake
slowly walked to the event near theceiling. Richard, Richard, Are you
there? Richard? Jake looked overat me in the window and shook his
(19:15):
head. He's not home. Noone is answering, all right? Are
you ready to get out of here? Hell? Yes? Please? Okay,
and Jake, you don't have akey to leave right? No,
I'm going to call the police.Okay, Okay. I ran back to
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my car, and quickly drove away. I called the police and explained that
Jake was disabled and Richard had druggedhim and was keeping him imprisoned in the
basement. I also told the policethat Richard had threatened to shoot me if
he saw me on the property,so I wasn't near the house. When
(20:00):
the police arrived at Richard's home,they saw Jake locked in the basement.
The police tracked down Richard and orderedhim to return to unlock the basement and
free Jake. When Richard arrived,he and the police had to go through
three different doors with dead bolts onboth sides to reach Jake. Richard had
(20:26):
broken numerous fire violations. The policecontacted me and asked me to drive to
Richard's house to pick up Jake.Upon arriving, there were five police cars
lined up in front of the houseand the police were scurrying in and out.
Jake went in to get his clothesand we put them in my car.
(20:47):
I spoke to the sergeant and heasked me about Jake. I explained
to him that Jake had been lockedin the basement for seven years, and
I demanded that he arrests Richard andoffice. Sir approached Richard, who yelled,
you can't arrest me. I'm hisguardian. I'll sue you. I
knew that Richard wasn't his guardian andexplain that to the police. Richard kept
(21:14):
yelling and yelling now and the policebacked off. I'm guessing they didn't want
to deal with the lawsuit. Thesergeant told me to call the police station
if I wanted to try getting anarrest warrant for Richard. So, after
finally proving that Richard was keeping Jakelocked in the basement, Richard was still
(21:34):
not arrested either way, though Jakewas ecstatic now that he was free.
We got into my car to getaway from Richard and his house of horrors.
I can't believe it. We didit, Jack. I thought I
would never get out of here.Don't worry. You'll never have to go
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back there. I thought i'd dieddown there. I know it's over.
Now you're safe, Cheryl, You'rethe best sister in the whole world.
Thanks. I felt so sorry forJake after this entire ordeal. He was
obviously exhausted. I took him tothe emergency room to get him checked out.
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The doctor said he was extremely underweight. His blood work came back and
he was very anemic. He wasin liver failure from too many vitamins,
and his liver was extremely toxic becauseof an overdose of B vitamins. I
signed up Jake for two weeks ofphysical and cognitive therapy. A couple days
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later, I contacted the police toget inn a rest warrant for Richard.
Strangely, the sergeant wasn't returning mycalls. I decided to go to the
police station to help get things moving. At the station, an officer informed
me that they had spoken with mymother, who sided with Richard. My
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mother explained to the police that shewas Jake's legal guardian and that Richard had
done nothing wrong. It was thesame lie she told Family Services. My
mother refused to hold Richard accountable becauseshe never really cared at all about Jake.
She was more interested in winning theargument against me that Jake was being
(23:30):
treated well. She was infuriated atme for saving Jake from the basement.
During Jake's two weeks of therapy,his team learned the terrible details of what
had happened to him. His therapyteam referred me to social services, where
I spoke to an ambudsman. Thembuzman was horrified about what happened to Jake.
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She said it was imperative that thestory gets reported on the news,
and she gave me the number ofa local news reporter. I contacted the
local news and the reporter interviewed Jakeand me. When the reporter contacted my
mother, she continued to refute thestory. The reporter explained to my mother
(24:15):
how ill Jake had become and thatconfining him to the basement was inhumane.
The reporter asked if she ever visitedJake over the seven years, and she,
of course had not. Later on, the reporter contacted me and said
he never dealt with anyone as verballyabusive as my mother in his entire life.
(24:37):
My mother was now constantly calling thestation and threatening anyone she spoke to.
The newsroom refused to take any morecalls from her. As a result
of my mother's interference, I couldn'tget help from family services or the police.
No charges could be filed against Richard. My mother did everything in her
(25:00):
power to destroy any kind of casethat we had against Richard. At one
point, my mother contacted me andtold me that Richard demanded to know where
Jake and I were living. Ikept our whereabouts a secret, though no
one knew where we were and Ihad a po box for mail. Still,
Richard kept calling my mother every day, demanding to know where we lived.
(25:26):
He was probably trying to figure outhow to get Jake's SSI checks in
food stamps. Again, I feltlike we were being stalked and decided it
was time to move. Before wesettled on a new location, though,
I took Jake on a road tripto celebrate his newfound freedom. We drove
(25:47):
to Florida and visited beautiful Fort LauderdaleBeach, then off to New York City
for the iconic sites. Next,we traveled to Las Vegas, where Jake
was amazed by the hotels and glitzof the Vegas Strip. We completed our
(26:07):
trip in sunny California with the HooverDam. Jake looked well fed and healthy
by the end of our trip.I started researching to find the best program
in the country to try to gettreatment for Jake for his traumatic brain injury.
I needed a program to properly evaluatehim to see if he could live
(26:29):
on his own and take care ofhimself. I found a great six month
program in Texas and entered Jake intoit. While Jake was in the program,
my mother's birthday came around. Iwasn't sure if I should call her,
but eventually I decided to yes.I endured years of abuse and heartache,
(26:52):
but she was still my mother.It's also tough for abuse victims to
leave their tormentors. According to theNational Coalition against Domestic Violence, the victim
in a violent relationship knows their abuseher best and fully knows the extent to
which they will go to make surethey have and can maintain control over the
victim. When I called my motherto wish her a happy birthday, her
(27:18):
voice didn't sound right. She wasconstantly slurring her speech, but blamed it
on a sore throat. Afterwards,I contacted the retirement community to let them
know that my mother may have hada stroke. The retirement community checked on
her and called an ambulance. Mymother refused the care, but they took
her to the hospital anyway. Atthe hospital, a doctor explained to my
(27:42):
mother that she suffered a major strokeand her right side was paralyzed. I
flew out to Missouri the following dayto see her. After a couple days
in the hospital, my mother suffereda major heart attack. She was near
death and could no longer speak,but she still had heart and brain activity.
(28:06):
The doctor told me that she shouldbe given morphine because she was suffering.
After she received the morphine, Isaid goodbye to her. She passed
away the same day. She wasgone. Her abuse had ended, but
inside of me, the manipulation alwayslives. I traveled back to Texas to
(28:32):
Jake after he finished the six monthprogram. I received the news that I
had assumed all along. Jake wasunfortunately unable to care for himself independently.
His brain injury and later trauma fromconfinement was too severe. Being locked in
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the basement for seven years, alongwith poor nutrition, made the damage irreversible
and contributed to his dementia. Hisexecutive skill functions were on a third grade
level. He would be an easytarget to be preyed upon again and would
risk being exploited. The bottom line, Jake wouldn't know if he was in
(29:15):
danger. As time went on,Jake also developed idiosyncrasies from his mental and
physical head trauma. I can cooloff metal by waving my hand over it.
What metal I can cool it offby waving my hand over it,
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and I can make rust disappear too. I don't think that would work,
Jake. It works. I canrenew objects with the wave of my hand,
Okay. I can raise the streetsand land lightning. Don't think I
can't, Okay, Jake, I'mtelling you I can land lightning. Jake's
confusion was due to misfiring nerves inhis prefrontal cortex our brains recognition and decision
(30:04):
making function, and the front partbehind the forehead. I wanted to place
Jake in another therapy program, butthere was a waiting list, so I
placed him in a group home.At first, Jake loved the group home.
Things were going great for a while, but problems began to arise.
(30:26):
Two disabled people who were abusive movedinto the home. They kicked doors,
punched holes on the walls, andyelled out vulgarities. Jake became nervous and
agitated. The group home nurse thenstarted increasing his medication dramatically. These meds
did not help him calm down.The system often lumps all mentally ill people
(30:52):
together, even though some people aremuch higher functioning than others. This forcing
together of indis with completely different mentalproblems, causes trauma to everyone. The
group home's solution, they'll sometimes heavilymedicate the individuals who were unable to handle
(31:14):
the situation. Some of the grouphome members started to abuse Jake, so
he began to run away. Jakealways preferred to freedom to walk the streets,
then to be stuck with the violentpeople in the group home. One
day, Jake ran away and wasmissing for several days. The police found
him, and when they did,Jake acted like he was having a heart
(31:37):
attack. He asked to be droppedoff at the hospital. The police took
him to the hospital emergency room,but they didn't stay with him. Jake
then, of course, eloped againfrom the hospital. I called the hospital
and discovered that he ran away again, so I contacted the police. The
police quickly found him in a nearbyAn officer called me and said Jake lied
(32:02):
to him about needing to go tothe hospital. I told the officer,
yes, Jake knows how to lieand get out of situations, but he's
disabled. He wouldn't know if hewas in danger. Jake thinks he knows
what he's doing, but he reallyisn't aware of the danger at the end
of the day. It's extremely difficultfor a grown man to be restricted when
(32:25):
he wants to live some kind oflife. When I saw Jake, I
tried to explain the situation to him. Jake, you can't run away from
your group home. It's dangerous.I don't like it, and there people
hit me. I understand, butwe don't have any other choice right now.
Some of them don't even know howto use the bathroom. Some of
(32:47):
them just scream all day. Iknow, Jake, it's not fair that
you have to deal with that,but it's the best we have right now.
Well, Jake would finally leave thegroup home, but not because he
found a better place. COVID struckand all group homes were closed. Jake
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moved in with me, and Isoon found it was difficult to watch him
every second. I installed an alarmon the house so I would hear a
beep anytime the door or window wasopen. This would help me to ensure
that Jake didn't run away. Ialso slept on the sofa because I feared
(33:28):
he may try to leave in themiddle of the night. One afternoon,
I was taking a shower and hesneaked away without me hearing the alarm chime.
After my shower, I noticed thatJake was nowhere in the house.
I ran outside and started frantically searchingand calling his name. Jake, Jake,
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where are you? Jake? Oh? No, he must have run
off. This was my worst nightmare. It was ninety two degrees outside and
Jake had no hat, no water, no money, and no ID.
I drove around searching for him.I was in a panic. I called
nine to one one. Unfortunately,because Jake ran off from his group home
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in the past and tricked the policeinto bringing him to the hospital, the
police didn't want to help. Thiswas so wrong. Just because Jake lied
to them and the past doesn't meanthe police have the right not to look
for him. If a child runsaway and lies about it, you don't
just ignore the child's disappearance in thefuture. The police told me to go
(34:36):
home and wait for Jake to return. They would send an officer to take
a report. An officer arrived andtook a report. As soon as the
officer left, I hopped into mycar and continued searching. I left the
front door open with a note onit for Jake in case he returned.
I finally went back home around elevenat night with no success. I designed
(34:59):
and pretty missing person flyers. Idrove around the city and posted them wherever
I could. I spent the entireday every day, from dawn to dusk,
searching for Jake. Every day Jakewas missing, a little more sadness
crept into my soul and a littlepiece of my heart went out. I
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didn't want to imagine the terrible situationshe might encounter. He could be injured,
exposed to numerous street dangers, abducted, or even killed. As a
week passed and the police still hadnot entered Jake until the National Database for
Missing Persons. I called the policestation and I was assured by the detective
(35:40):
that they were looking for him,but I had my doubts. I traveled
to where the homeless people were campedout in town due to COVID. There
was a huge amount of homeless people. Next to one homeless camp, I
saw police officers nearby who were gatheredon a corner pulling over a car.
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I walked over and gave them someflyers. I explained that my brother was
missing, and none of them wereaware of it. It was two weeks
At that point, the police toldme not to go into the homeless camps
alone. The officers wished me luckin finding my brother, but one officer
(36:21):
said, ma'am, you're in acity of nearly ten million people. If
you don't find him in thirty days, the odds are you're not going to
find him. I told myself Iwould find Jake, come hell or high
water. I went to several morehomeless camps over the next week. I
started handing out flyers to the peoplethere, and this time I offered reward
(36:45):
money. It was now three weekssince i'd seen Jake. One morning,
I woke up to the sound oflightning hitting the tree in our front yard.
The lightning nearly split the tree inhalf. I feared that it was
a sign that something was wrong.Jake always said he could land lightning.
Maybe this was a sign that somethingterrible had happened. It was day twenty
(37:10):
nine since Jake went missing. Itwas looking like I wouldn't find Jake before
my day thirty deadline, no matterhow unlikely it seemed, though, I
refused to give up on finding Jake. I thought back to the advice my
dad gave me never quit, andnever give up, no matter how hard
the struggle is. Play the handthat life dealt you. Stay in the
(37:35):
game, and eventually you'll draw awinning hand. The morning of day twenty
nine, I continued my search andfelt God direct me to a different area
where I distributed my flyers. Ireally felt God was leading me that day.
A voice said go to a differentarea. I obeyed. I stopped
(37:57):
by a gas station at a busyintersection and dropped off the last two flyers.
The attendant there said he would keepan eye out for Jake. The
next day, on the thirtieth day, I received a call from a private
caller on my cell phone and answeredit. It was a police officer telling
(38:17):
me the best news I could imagine. You have my brother. You found
Jake. Oh thank god. Iwas ecstatic. It was like I'd won
the lottery. The attendant at thegas station saw my brother and reported it
to the police. I rushed tothe gas station and there was Jake.
(38:40):
He looked completely worn out and hadsevere sunburn all over his body. Jake,
Oh, thank god, you're okay. I got confused, Cheryl,
I can't believe I finally found you. I wanted to call you but I
couldn't find a pay phone. Thosedon't exist anymore. Jake, you don't
(39:00):
realize the danger you were in.I'm glad to see you. I'm glad
to see you too. Jake andI drove back home. I was so
happy to have finally found him aliveand safe. As we pulled into the
house, I pointed out the treethat was struck by lightning. Hey,
(39:22):
Jake, you see that tree inour front yard. Yeah, ten days
after you went missing, lightning hitit and nearly cut it in half.
It scared me. I was afraidsomething terrible happened to you. Wow.
Then I realized that it was youbecause you always said you could land lightning.
(39:42):
Oh my god, Cheryl, Idid land lightning. Oh you see,
I told you. It made mesearch for you even harder. You
can't imagine the pain I went throughsearching for you every day. I'm so
happy you are okay. Yeah,I'm glad too. I would have never
(40:06):
found Jake without God's help. Ifelt like God put a supernatural power inside
of me that helped find him.That was a miracle. Jake is currently
in another group home, but everyday is still a struggle. There is
never enough funding from mental health acrossthis country, and we see the results
(40:28):
every day on our streets and inthe news. I hope the story helps
to shed light on the treatment anddifficulties of the men and women suffering from
mental health issues throughout the nation.So many of the systems we have in
place are flawed and contain obvious issues. It doesn't matter what our mental health
(40:49):
is, we all deserve to betreated with dignity and care. Allegedly is
a production of Voyage Media. Theseries is produced by Natmandel, Robert Midas,
(41:10):
and Dan Benemore. This episode,Landing Lightning, was produced, directed,
and written by Jason Cheney, basedon an upcoming novel by Cheryl Dean.
Once the novel is available, wewill put a link to it in
the show notes. Executive produced byCheryl Dean, starring Annie Abrams as Cheryl
and Ben Van Deepen as Jake.Edited sound designed and mixed by Joel Lippman.
(41:34):
Original music by Derlas Gonzales. Ifyou're enjoying the show, please leave
us a five star review on ApplePodcasts or anywhere you're listening, and subscribe
now for future episodes.
What if someone was holding someone youlove hostage and there was nothing you could
do about it. In this story, a loving sister attempts to rescue her
brother from a shocking ordeal. Herbrother suffers from traumatic brain injury and he's
easily taken advantage of his injury ledto a nightmarish situation, and his sister
is the only person willing to help. This is Landing Lightning. My name
(00:29):
is Cheryl and I was born inthe winter of nineteen fifty four in Missouri.
I was a healthy, normal childto everyone except for my mother.
The reason my mother felt I wasabnormal had to do with the unreliable pregnancy
test during those days. Back then, doctors used rabbits, frogs, or
(00:50):
mice to determine pregnancy, but forthe most part, they used rabbits.
The pregnancy test involved taking the womandurin an injecting it into a rabbit.
If the pregnancy hormone was present,the rabbit's ovaries exhibited a dramatic change,
and the woman was told the rabbitdied. This meant that someone was pregnant.
(01:15):
In my mother's case, the rabbitnever died even after multiple tests.
The doctor thought I might be atumor until my mother finally felt me kicking.
She was superstitious and thought there mustbe something wrong with me because of
the negative pregnancy test. My motherabused me both physically and mentally during my
(01:38):
childhood. Just to describe a coupleof examples, she once shoved me violently
backwards down the basement steps of ourhome, and on another occasion, she
hit me in the eye with abelt buckle, sending me to the emergency
room. She also made up storiesand punished me for things I never did.
(02:00):
My brother, Jake, was threeyears younger than me, but he
endured a different type of abuse.While my mother would physically and emotionally abuse
me, she would simply completely neglectmy younger brother altogether. She never cared
for or discipline Jake whatsoever. Asa result, I became like a mother
(02:23):
to Jake. I took care ofhim and kept him out of trouble while
we were growing up. When Jakewas twenty nine years old, he had
an unfortunate experience that would change hislife forever. He attempted to help someone
who was being beat up and robbed. He intervened, and in the process
(02:44):
he was severely beaten with a tireiron, kidnapped, and nearly killed.
This resulted in Jake's traumatic brain injuryTBI, causing him to be disabled and
he was never the same again.Fast forward to twenty eleven. I'm living
in California with my father and Jakeis living in Missouri. My father had
(03:07):
been acting strange at the time afterhe started taking antidepressants and psychotropic drugs.
Then one morning I received a shockof my life. My father sadly committed
suicide. I decided to have myfather's memorial in Missouri near Jake, as
(03:28):
it would be difficult for him totravel. I hadn't seen Jake in a
couple of years, but my motherinformed me that he was doing well and
was being taken care of by hislandlord, Richard. I flew into Missouri
and drove to pick up Jake aday before the memorial. I met with
Richard in front of Jake's apartment andhe took me inside. I was shocked
(03:53):
at what I saw. Jake wasliving down in a cold basement with a
window that had iron bars. Hewas emaciated and looked scared to death.
His so called apartment looked like aprison cell. I stood there, astonished.
(04:15):
What the hell happened to him?I thought. I gathered Jake and
his coat and we left the building. We entered my rental car. I'm
sorry to have to tell you this, but Dad died. What what do
(04:35):
you mean Dad died? It justhappened a few days ago. Dad's dead.
I can't believe it, Cheryl.Dad can't be gone. Yes,
I can't believe it either, Jake. I am so sorry. Oh my
god, he can't be gone.How did he die? I couldn't bring
(04:56):
myself to tell him the truth yetabout Dad's suicide. He had been sick
and on medicine and he died.Poor Dad, I know. I drove
us to a restaurant to get Jakesome much needed food. I asked the
waitress for rolls as soon as wesat down, and Jake started to devour
(05:19):
them. Jake, why are youso skinny? Are you sick? No?
He's starving me. Who's starving you? Richard your landlord? For the
last three days, he only gaveme a cheese sandwich with no water.
He just gives me a ton ofvitamins. They make my stomach hert with
(05:42):
no food. He's a crook.He keeps me locked in the basement,
like I'm in prison. I'd bebetter off in prison. At least there
i'd have someone to talk to.He keeps you locked in the basement.
Yes, he never lets me leave, and he gets freezing down there.
I have a heater, but itdoesn't help much. He can't do that.
(06:05):
He's just a landlord. Does Momknow about this? I don't know.
I write her letters, but shenever comes to see me. I
beg her to come and see me. She never does. Her apartment isn't
even that far away from here.Can you try calling her? There's no
phone to call anyone. The phoneis upstairs in Richard's house. He can't
(06:28):
force you to stay inside. That'skidnapping. Can you have him arrested?
I don't know. I can try. How long has this been going on?
Almost seven years? Now? What? No way? Hearing this was
too much for me. I hadto excuse myself to go to the ladies
(06:50):
room so I could cry. Iwas still processing my father's suicide. I
(07:14):
wished he was still around to helpme deal with Jake's terrible ordeal. I
later learned about how Jake had becomestuck in this situation with Richard. As
a result of Jake's brain injury,it was always difficult for him to take
care of himself. He was alsovulnerable to other people exploiting him. Before
(07:34):
Jake met Richard, he would walkthe streets and pick up trash to throw
it away. One afternoon, asJake picked up trash in front of a
home, a man exited to askwhat he was doing. The man,
who was Richard, asked if Jakewas homeless. Jake explained that he had
a place, but the city condemnedit, so he was just squatting there.
(07:58):
Richard asked Jake if he was ondisability and receive money from SSI Supplemental
Security Income. Jake confirmed that hedid. Richard asked Jake if he wanted
to live in the basement of hishome. Richard told Jake that he would
fix it up for him if hepaid rent money from his disability check.
(08:18):
Jake naively agreed. The Supplemental SecurityIncome Program, or SSI, provides monthly
payments to adults and children with thedisability who have income and resources below specific
financial limits. Jake was receiving thisincome each month, along with food stamps.
Jake began to live in Richard's basement. His only furniture was an old
(08:39):
bed, a small dresser, anda tiny space heater. A few weeks
after Jake moved in, Richard toldhim that he wanted to become his representative
payee for his Social Security check.Richard wanted to completely control Jake's money.
Richard took Jake to the Social Securityoffice to make the request. The office
(09:01):
denied the request because Jake could handlehis check he always had. Shortly after,
Jake was outside of a fast foodrestaurant. He saw a man who
rightly hung out there. Jake askedthe man for a ride downtown to cash
his social Security check. The managreed. Jake cashed his check downtown and
returned to the man's car. Theman suddenly pulled out a gun, pointed
(09:26):
at Jake and ordered him to turnover his money. Jake complied. Jake
then walked miles back to Richard's homein the freezing weather. He explained to
Richard that he was robbed of hisrent money, but he knew the thief
as a regular at the White Castle. Richard was infuriated. He immediately drove
(09:50):
Jake to the Social Security office.And again applied to be his representative Paye.
This time Richard had the robbery asan excuse. The office accepted the
request, and now Richard received Jake'sSSI checks in food stamps, controlling Jake's
food. After Dad's memorial the followingday, I called my mother at her
(10:16):
apartment in her retirement community. Itold her about Jake's terrible condition and captivity.
This turned out to be a hugemistake. She refused to believe me,
and she sided with Richard. Iargued with her and we went back
and forth until she tried to changethe subject, but I wouldn't let up.
(10:39):
I explained that she never actually visitedJake in the seven years he had
been in the basement. Did shewant him to die down there. She
refused to listen or criticize Richard andyelled at me to stay out of it
before she hung up on me.I called her back and told her that
I was retrend in California, butI would be moving back to Missouri to
(11:03):
help Jake. She told me,yeah, there's a reason your dad is
dead. There's a reason he committedsuicide under your care. That really hurt
me, but I just kept reiteratingJake's dire condition. Dad was already gone.
I wasn't about to lose my brothertoo. She once again ordered me
(11:26):
stay out of it before hanging upagain. Even though my mother never visited
Jake to see his living situation orhis condition, she still served as his
legal guardian. She was in controlof him. I had no choice but
to bring Jake back to Richard whileI figure out how I'm going to rescue
(11:48):
him. I feared leaving Jake behind, but I felt it would be okay
until I returned for him. WhenI brought Jake back to Richard, I
asked Richard to ensure Jake got morefood. Richard stated that Jake got plenty
to eat. I knew that wasa lie. I told Richard that Jake
needed food and not just vitamins.Before I traveled back to California, I
(12:13):
said goodbye to Jake in his basementprison cell. Jake, I have to
leave, but I promise I'll comeback to take care of you. When
are you coming back, don't worry, it won't be long. I just
had to get things settled in Californiafirst. I can't stand living here.
Cheryl, Please don't forget about me. Don't worry, We'll figure out how
(12:39):
to get you out of here.Just don't say anything to Richard about me.
Returning, I gave Jake a hugand we both started to tear up.
I traveled back to California. Ipacked up everything over a few weeks
and quickly sold whatever I could finda buyer for. I found an apartment
online in Missouri, not far fromJake. Then I flew back to Missouri
(13:03):
to rescue my brother. I contactedRichard and set up days and times that
I would pick up Jake to takehim out and eat and enjoy the outside
world. Richard would never allow meto pick up Jake without an appointment.
(13:24):
I started to confront Richard about histerrible treatment of Jake, which Richard as
always denied. I told Richard thathe couldn't legally lock up Jake because that
was false imprisonment of a disabled person. Richard said that he locked up Jake
so he wouldn't run off and getdrunk. But I told Richard that was
none of his business, as hewas neither a guardian nor a caregiver.
(13:48):
Although Richard was his paye, hewas just a landlord. I also confronted
Richard again about not feeding Jake,but he explained that he gave him vitamins.
I told Richard again that Jake needsfood and he doesn't need vitamins.
It was clear that Richard was onlyinterested in the SSI checks and food stamps
(14:11):
he was getting from Jake. Aftera few weeks, I had had enough.
It was time. I called Richardand threatened to notify authorities if he
didn't allow me to move Jake outof the basement. Richard, fearing the
police, agreed to let me moveout Jake, but he reached out to
(14:33):
my mother first. My mother orderedRichard to keep Jake away from me and
to no longer let him go anywherewith me. She told Richard I was
a troublemaker. When I arrived tomove Jake out, Richard barged out of
the house. He was in arage, yelling get out of here.
(14:56):
You're not getting your brother. You'renot getting him, Get off of my
my property. I told him Iwas going to call the police, but
he screamed, go ahead, yourbrother's not even here. I looked into
the small window of Jake's basement roomand it was empty. Then Richard threatened
if you ever come back on myproperty, I'll shoot you. I was
(15:20):
so frightened that I jumped in mycar and drove away. I immediately called
the police, and now I waseven more worried about my brother. Where
was he. I told the policethat my brother had been locked in the
basement for the past seven years andthat he's disabled. They ask if Jake
is currently in the basement so theycould prove he was being locked inside,
(15:41):
but I said no, Jake wasn'tthere at the moment. Richard had conspired
with my mother to make sure Jakewasn't home when I arrived to rescue him.
This didn't surprise me. The policeinformed me that if Jake wasn't home
to prove that he was being lockedin, there was nothing they could do.
(16:03):
The police mentioned that I should contactfamily services and make a report so
a formal investigation could be made.Family support services are community based services that
assistant support parents in their role ascaregivers. Family support programs may address the
general population or target particular groups suchas ethnic and cultural minorities, adolyst and
(16:26):
parents, kinship caregivers, or familiesfacing health, mental health or substance use.
Issues. I called Family Services andfiled a complaint explaining the entire story.
Family Services then reached out to Jake'slegal guardian, my mother, to
confirm the complaint. My mother praisedRichard and said he took such great care
(16:51):
of Jake when no one else would. Family Services then contacted Richard and he
told them that Jake had a keyto leave when whatever he wanted. This
wasn't true, but Family Services nevermade a visit to find out that Richard
was lying. My mother and Richardcolluded to make sure Family Services would never
(17:14):
get involved. My mother's cold heartnever ceased to amaze me. She used
her influence to continue to make Jake'slife a living hell with no help from
Family Services. I decided I wouldpersonally rescue Jake. It was dangerous,
but I needed to find out whenJake was locked up at home so I
(17:37):
could prove it to the police.I would have to wait for the perfect
time when Richard wasn't home while Jakewas locked in the basement. I didn't
want to get shot if Richard sawme on his property, I would drive
by the house to investigate, andone afternoon I noticed that Richard's suv wasn't
(17:59):
parked in the drive way. Iparked my car on the side of the
house and quickly exited. I ranto the back window of the basement,
which was covered in iron bars.The window was cracked open slightly, and
I noticed Jake lying on the bed. He seemed out of it. He
was drooling and heavily medicated, staringat the ceiling. Jake. He was
(18:27):
too medicated to respond, Jeeke,Jake. Jake slowly turned his head toward
the window. Jake, it's Cheryl. Cheryl, yes, Jake, I
need to know if Richard is home. Jake slowly sat up on his bed.
(18:51):
He slowly walked toward the window.Are you going to get me out
of here? I'm going to tryis Richard? Let me check. Jake
slowly walked to the event near theceiling. Richard, Richard, Are you
there? Richard? Jake looked overat me in the window and shook his
(19:15):
head. He's not home. Noone is answering, all right? Are
you ready to get out of here? Hell? Yes? Please? Okay,
and Jake, you don't have akey to leave right? No,
I'm going to call the police.Okay, Okay. I ran back to
(19:38):
my car, and quickly drove away. I called the police and explained that
Jake was disabled and Richard had druggedhim and was keeping him imprisoned in the
basement. I also told the policethat Richard had threatened to shoot me if
he saw me on the property,so I wasn't near the house. When
(20:00):
the police arrived at Richard's home,they saw Jake locked in the basement.
The police tracked down Richard and orderedhim to return to unlock the basement and
free Jake. When Richard arrived,he and the police had to go through
three different doors with dead bolts onboth sides to reach Jake. Richard had
(20:26):
broken numerous fire violations. The policecontacted me and asked me to drive to
Richard's house to pick up Jake.Upon arriving, there were five police cars
lined up in front of the houseand the police were scurrying in and out.
Jake went in to get his clothesand we put them in my car.
(20:47):
I spoke to the sergeant and heasked me about Jake. I explained
to him that Jake had been lockedin the basement for seven years, and
I demanded that he arrests Richard andoffice. Sir approached Richard, who yelled,
you can't arrest me. I'm hisguardian. I'll sue you. I
knew that Richard wasn't his guardian andexplain that to the police. Richard kept
(21:14):
yelling and yelling now and the policebacked off. I'm guessing they didn't want
to deal with the lawsuit. Thesergeant told me to call the police station
if I wanted to try getting anarrest warrant for Richard. So, after
finally proving that Richard was keeping Jakelocked in the basement, Richard was still
(21:34):
not arrested either way, though Jakewas ecstatic now that he was free.
We got into my car to getaway from Richard and his house of horrors.
I can't believe it. We didit, Jack. I thought I
would never get out of here.Don't worry. You'll never have to go
(21:56):
back there. I thought i'd dieddown there. I know it's over.
Now you're safe, Cheryl, You'rethe best sister in the whole world.
Thanks. I felt so sorry forJake after this entire ordeal. He was
obviously exhausted. I took him tothe emergency room to get him checked out.
(22:22):
The doctor said he was extremely underweight. His blood work came back and
he was very anemic. He wasin liver failure from too many vitamins,
and his liver was extremely toxic becauseof an overdose of B vitamins. I
signed up Jake for two weeks ofphysical and cognitive therapy. A couple days
(22:45):
later, I contacted the police toget inn a rest warrant for Richard.
Strangely, the sergeant wasn't returning mycalls. I decided to go to the
police station to help get things moving. At the station, an officer informed
me that they had spoken with mymother, who sided with Richard. My
(23:07):
mother explained to the police that shewas Jake's legal guardian and that Richard had
done nothing wrong. It was thesame lie she told Family Services. My
mother refused to hold Richard accountable becauseshe never really cared at all about Jake.
She was more interested in winning theargument against me that Jake was being
(23:30):
treated well. She was infuriated atme for saving Jake from the basement.
During Jake's two weeks of therapy,his team learned the terrible details of what
had happened to him. His therapyteam referred me to social services, where
I spoke to an ambudsman. Thembuzman was horrified about what happened to Jake.
(23:53):
She said it was imperative that thestory gets reported on the news,
and she gave me the number ofa local news reporter. I contacted the
local news and the reporter interviewed Jakeand me. When the reporter contacted my
mother, she continued to refute thestory. The reporter explained to my mother
(24:15):
how ill Jake had become and thatconfining him to the basement was inhumane.
The reporter asked if she ever visitedJake over the seven years, and she,
of course had not. Later on, the reporter contacted me and said
he never dealt with anyone as verballyabusive as my mother in his entire life.
(24:37):
My mother was now constantly calling thestation and threatening anyone she spoke to.
The newsroom refused to take any morecalls from her. As a result
of my mother's interference, I couldn'tget help from family services or the police.
No charges could be filed against Richard. My mother did everything in her
(25:00):
power to destroy any kind of casethat we had against Richard. At one
point, my mother contacted me andtold me that Richard demanded to know where
Jake and I were living. Ikept our whereabouts a secret, though no
one knew where we were and Ihad a po box for mail. Still,
Richard kept calling my mother every day, demanding to know where we lived.
(25:26):
He was probably trying to figure outhow to get Jake's SSI checks in
food stamps. Again, I feltlike we were being stalked and decided it
was time to move. Before wesettled on a new location, though,
I took Jake on a road tripto celebrate his newfound freedom. We drove
(25:47):
to Florida and visited beautiful Fort LauderdaleBeach, then off to New York City
for the iconic sites. Next,we traveled to Las Vegas, where Jake
was amazed by the hotels and glitzof the Vegas Strip. We completed our
(26:07):
trip in sunny California with the HooverDam. Jake looked well fed and healthy
by the end of our trip.I started researching to find the best program
in the country to try to gettreatment for Jake for his traumatic brain injury.
I needed a program to properly evaluatehim to see if he could live
(26:29):
on his own and take care ofhimself. I found a great six month
program in Texas and entered Jake intoit. While Jake was in the program,
my mother's birthday came around. Iwasn't sure if I should call her,
but eventually I decided to yes.I endured years of abuse and heartache,
(26:52):
but she was still my mother.It's also tough for abuse victims to
leave their tormentors. According to theNational Coalition against Domestic Violence, the victim
in a violent relationship knows their abuseher best and fully knows the extent to
which they will go to make surethey have and can maintain control over the
victim. When I called my motherto wish her a happy birthday, her
(27:18):
voice didn't sound right. She wasconstantly slurring her speech, but blamed it
on a sore throat. Afterwards,I contacted the retirement community to let them
know that my mother may have hada stroke. The retirement community checked on
her and called an ambulance. Mymother refused the care, but they took
her to the hospital anyway. Atthe hospital, a doctor explained to my
(27:42):
mother that she suffered a major strokeand her right side was paralyzed. I
flew out to Missouri the following dayto see her. After a couple days
in the hospital, my mother suffereda major heart attack. She was near
death and could no longer speak,but she still had heart and brain activity.
(28:06):
The doctor told me that she shouldbe given morphine because she was suffering.
After she received the morphine, Isaid goodbye to her. She passed
away the same day. She wasgone. Her abuse had ended, but
inside of me, the manipulation alwayslives. I traveled back to Texas to
(28:32):
Jake after he finished the six monthprogram. I received the news that I
had assumed all along. Jake wasunfortunately unable to care for himself independently.
His brain injury and later trauma fromconfinement was too severe. Being locked in
(28:52):
the basement for seven years, alongwith poor nutrition, made the damage irreversible
and contributed to his dementia. Hisexecutive skill functions were on a third grade
level. He would be an easytarget to be preyed upon again and would
risk being exploited. The bottom line, Jake wouldn't know if he was in
(29:15):
danger. As time went on,Jake also developed idiosyncrasies from his mental and
physical head trauma. I can cooloff metal by waving my hand over it.
What metal I can cool it offby waving my hand over it,
(29:36):
and I can make rust disappear too. I don't think that would work,
Jake. It works. I canrenew objects with the wave of my hand,
Okay. I can raise the streetsand land lightning. Don't think I
can't, Okay, Jake, I'mtelling you I can land lightning. Jake's
confusion was due to misfiring nerves inhis prefrontal cortex our brains recognition and decision
(30:04):
making function, and the front partbehind the forehead. I wanted to place
Jake in another therapy program, butthere was a waiting list, so I
placed him in a group home.At first, Jake loved the group home.
Things were going great for a while, but problems began to arise.
(30:26):
Two disabled people who were abusive movedinto the home. They kicked doors,
punched holes on the walls, andyelled out vulgarities. Jake became nervous and
agitated. The group home nurse thenstarted increasing his medication dramatically. These meds
did not help him calm down.The system often lumps all mentally ill people
(30:52):
together, even though some people aremuch higher functioning than others. This forcing
together of indis with completely different mentalproblems, causes trauma to everyone. The
group home's solution, they'll sometimes heavilymedicate the individuals who were unable to handle
(31:14):
the situation. Some of the grouphome members started to abuse Jake, so
he began to run away. Jakealways preferred to freedom to walk the streets,
then to be stuck with the violentpeople in the group home. One
day, Jake ran away and wasmissing for several days. The police found
him, and when they did,Jake acted like he was having a heart
(31:37):
attack. He asked to be droppedoff at the hospital. The police took
him to the hospital emergency room,but they didn't stay with him. Jake
then, of course, eloped againfrom the hospital. I called the hospital
and discovered that he ran away again, so I contacted the police. The
police quickly found him in a nearbyAn officer called me and said Jake lied
(32:02):
to him about needing to go tothe hospital. I told the officer,
yes, Jake knows how to lieand get out of situations, but he's
disabled. He wouldn't know if hewas in danger. Jake thinks he knows
what he's doing, but he reallyisn't aware of the danger at the end
of the day. It's extremely difficultfor a grown man to be restricted when
(32:25):
he wants to live some kind oflife. When I saw Jake, I
tried to explain the situation to him. Jake, you can't run away from
your group home. It's dangerous.I don't like it, and there people
hit me. I understand, butwe don't have any other choice right now.
Some of them don't even know howto use the bathroom. Some of
(32:47):
them just scream all day. Iknow, Jake, it's not fair that
you have to deal with that,but it's the best we have right now.
Well, Jake would finally leave thegroup home, but not because he
found a better place. COVID struckand all group homes were closed. Jake
(33:07):
moved in with me, and Isoon found it was difficult to watch him
every second. I installed an alarmon the house so I would hear a
beep anytime the door or window wasopen. This would help me to ensure
that Jake didn't run away. Ialso slept on the sofa because I feared
(33:28):
he may try to leave in themiddle of the night. One afternoon,
I was taking a shower and hesneaked away without me hearing the alarm chime.
After my shower, I noticed thatJake was nowhere in the house.
I ran outside and started frantically searchingand calling his name. Jake, Jake,
(33:51):
where are you? Jake? Oh? No, he must have run
off. This was my worst nightmare. It was ninety two degrees outside and
Jake had no hat, no water, no money, and no ID.
I drove around searching for him.I was in a panic. I called
nine to one one. Unfortunately,because Jake ran off from his group home
(34:14):
in the past and tricked the policeinto bringing him to the hospital, the
police didn't want to help. Thiswas so wrong. Just because Jake lied
to them and the past doesn't meanthe police have the right not to look
for him. If a child runsaway and lies about it, you don't
just ignore the child's disappearance in thefuture. The police told me to go
(34:36):
home and wait for Jake to return. They would send an officer to take
a report. An officer arrived andtook a report. As soon as the
officer left, I hopped into mycar and continued searching. I left the
front door open with a note onit for Jake in case he returned.
I finally went back home around elevenat night with no success. I designed
(34:59):
and pretty missing person flyers. Idrove around the city and posted them wherever
I could. I spent the entireday every day, from dawn to dusk,
searching for Jake. Every day Jakewas missing, a little more sadness
crept into my soul and a littlepiece of my heart went out. I
(35:20):
didn't want to imagine the terrible situationshe might encounter. He could be injured,
exposed to numerous street dangers, abducted, or even killed. As a
week passed and the police still hadnot entered Jake until the National Database for
Missing Persons. I called the policestation and I was assured by the detective
(35:40):
that they were looking for him,but I had my doubts. I traveled
to where the homeless people were campedout in town due to COVID. There
was a huge amount of homeless people. Next to one homeless camp, I
saw police officers nearby who were gatheredon a corner pulling over a car.
(36:01):
I walked over and gave them someflyers. I explained that my brother was
missing, and none of them wereaware of it. It was two weeks
At that point, the police toldme not to go into the homeless camps
alone. The officers wished me luckin finding my brother, but one officer
(36:21):
said, ma'am, you're in acity of nearly ten million people. If
you don't find him in thirty days, the odds are you're not going to
find him. I told myself Iwould find Jake, come hell or high
water. I went to several morehomeless camps over the next week. I
started handing out flyers to the peoplethere, and this time I offered reward
(36:45):
money. It was now three weekssince i'd seen Jake. One morning,
I woke up to the sound oflightning hitting the tree in our front yard.
The lightning nearly split the tree inhalf. I feared that it was
a sign that something was wrong.Jake always said he could land lightning.
Maybe this was a sign that somethingterrible had happened. It was day twenty
(37:10):
nine since Jake went missing. Itwas looking like I wouldn't find Jake before
my day thirty deadline, no matterhow unlikely it seemed, though, I
refused to give up on finding Jake. I thought back to the advice my
dad gave me never quit, andnever give up, no matter how hard
the struggle is. Play the handthat life dealt you. Stay in the
(37:35):
game, and eventually you'll draw awinning hand. The morning of day twenty
nine, I continued my search andfelt God direct me to a different area
where I distributed my flyers. Ireally felt God was leading me that day.
A voice said go to a differentarea. I obeyed. I stopped
(37:57):
by a gas station at a busyintersection and dropped off the last two flyers.
The attendant there said he would keepan eye out for Jake. The
next day, on the thirtieth day, I received a call from a private
caller on my cell phone and answeredit. It was a police officer telling
(38:17):
me the best news I could imagine. You have my brother. You found
Jake. Oh thank god. Iwas ecstatic. It was like I'd won
the lottery. The attendant at thegas station saw my brother and reported it
to the police. I rushed tothe gas station and there was Jake.
(38:40):
He looked completely worn out and hadsevere sunburn all over his body. Jake,
Oh, thank god, you're okay. I got confused, Cheryl,
I can't believe I finally found you. I wanted to call you but I
couldn't find a pay phone. Thosedon't exist anymore. Jake, you don't
(39:00):
realize the danger you were in.I'm glad to see you. I'm glad
to see you too. Jake andI drove back home. I was so
happy to have finally found him aliveand safe. As we pulled into the
house, I pointed out the treethat was struck by lightning. Hey,
(39:22):
Jake, you see that tree inour front yard. Yeah, ten days
after you went missing, lightning hitit and nearly cut it in half.
It scared me. I was afraidsomething terrible happened to you. Wow.
Then I realized that it was youbecause you always said you could land lightning.
(39:42):
Oh my god, Cheryl, Idid land lightning. Oh you see,
I told you. It made mesearch for you even harder. You
can't imagine the pain I went throughsearching for you every day. I'm so
happy you are okay. Yeah,I'm glad too. I would have never
(40:06):
found Jake without God's help. Ifelt like God put a supernatural power inside
of me that helped find him.That was a miracle. Jake is currently
in another group home, but everyday is still a struggle. There is
never enough funding from mental health acrossthis country, and we see the results
(40:28):
every day on our streets and inthe news. I hope the story helps
to shed light on the treatment anddifficulties of the men and women suffering from
mental health issues throughout the nation.So many of the systems we have in
place are flawed and contain obvious issues. It doesn't matter what our mental health
(40:49):
is, we all deserve to betreated with dignity and care. Allegedly is
a production of Voyage Media. Theseries is produced by Natmandel, Robert Midas,
(41:10):
and Dan Benemore. This episode,Landing Lightning, was produced, directed,
and written by Jason Cheney, basedon an upcoming novel by Cheryl Dean.
Once the novel is available, wewill put a link to it in
the show notes. Executive produced byCheryl Dean, starring Annie Abrams as Cheryl
and Ben Van Deepen as Jake.Edited sound designed and mixed by Joel Lippman.
(41:34):
Original music by Derlas Gonzales. Ifyou're enjoying the show, please leave
us a five star review on ApplePodcasts or anywhere you're listening, and subscribe
now for future episodes.
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